The identity and physiological condition of livestock is of paramount importance to owners, buyers, and processors of livestock. It is known to visually identify livestock using brands or ear tags. It is also known to identify livestock using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, e.g., in the form of an ear tag, an injectable tag, or an ingestible bolus. By including a sensor with the RFID tag, it is possible to collect indications of physiological characteristics, e.g., temperature.
In addition, livestock are known to ingest fragments of metal, e.g., wire from hay bales or barbed wire, that can induce traumatic reticuloperitonitis, a.k.a. “hardware disease.” Hardware disease is an infection caused when the stomach wall is penetrated by ingested metal. To reduce the risk of hardware disease, it is known to place one or more magnet boluses into the reticulum of livestock to attract such metal objects.